A Brief History Of Recycling
Mother Nature has always been the ultimate recycler; but since the dawn of civilization, recycling has also played an important role in the lives of humans. Recycling is the act of processing used products in an effort to combat energy and raw material waste. A brief look at the history of recycling reveals that the veracity with which a given community handles recycling is often directly related to supply and demand.
Early Recycling Efforts
Plato is often credited for being the first public figure to address the issue of reusing waste; plus, archaeological artifacts serve as evidence that various metals and glasses were often recycled during the days of the Roman Republic. Recycling experienced another major turning point in 1031, when a method was developed in Japan for making new paper out of used paper.
Recycling in Pre-Industrial Times
Before the Industrial Revolution, recycling was a normal part of life; after all, products could not be made as easily. People figured out novel ways to make items useful long after they were no longer suited for their original purpose. In fact, dustmen in Great Britain regularly collected ash and dust to reuse in brick. This process is still practiced today.
Wars Make Recycling A Patriotic Act
World Wars I & II ushered in a renewed interest in recycling. Governments unleashed large-scale marketing campaigns that extolled the virtues, benefits and necessity of recycling. Citizens were urged to hand over any scrap metal to authorities; they were also encouraged to not waste any fibers. After the wars, countries like Japan, with very few natural resources, kept up their recycling efforts.
The 60s and 70s
Unfortunately, in the 1950s, wartime conservation lessons were largely forgotten in the west and not much recycling continued in resource-rich countries. Enter the world-changing sixties. Though recycling wasn’t a common activity during the 1960s, public awareness on the matter began to rise. By the 1970s, due to an increase in energy costs, drop-off recycling facilities started popping up and the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” revolution began. Meanwhile, consumer electronics became a widespread commodity, introducing to the public lexicon such new terms as escrap and ewaste–and with them, a whole new side of the issue.
Today, nearly every city maintains a recycling program. As the issue becomes more prevalent in public discourse, debate rages about the most effective way to reuse raw materials and save energy. Some people prefer recycling, while others insist that some recycling methods actually use more resources than they save. Whichever your stance, just remember: if everyone lives according to the old adage “waste not, want not”, Mother Nature will be pleased.